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In a report to the committee meeting, officers said: “Whilst there is some sympathy for the view that the building should be retained, it is not of sufficient quality or interest to warrant being put forward for listing.”

But the council’s decision has infuriated The Reddings Residents’ Association, which objected to the application along with 48 people who live in the area.

Another view of the cottage

And they hope that the cottage can yet be saved.

Paul Thomas, a member of the association’s committee, said it was the oldest building in The Reddings and “a rare survivor”.

He said planning officers had refused to issue a temporary preservation order which would have triggered an assessment of the building by Historic England.

He added: “If this trend continues, Cheltenham will gradually lose any heritage that is not already listed and end up bland, cramped and wretched.”

Another residents’ association committee member, Tim Benton, also did his best to get the plans refused.

In a letter to councillors before the planning committee meeting, he said Cotswold View dated back to about 1800 and had been the first post office in the area as well as a blacksmith’s.

He added: “I believe this application is an assault on us all. Cotswold View has stood for 200 years, long before any of us were born, and without this threat, it will be here long after we are gone.

“It has been a home. It’s where people have taken their first breath and breathed their last. It’s where people have worked, fallen in love, played and cried. It is steeped in history and part of our local heritage.”